On Thursday 24 November, the European Parliament called on the European Ombudsman to launch a strategic investigation into the way the European Commission has handled the 'revolving door' career move of José Manuel Barroso, following his controversial appointment with the American merchant bank Goldman Sachs International (see EUROPE 11674).
In their adoption (557 votes in favour, 24 against and 44 abstentions) of the report by Notis Marias (ECR, Greece) on the activities of the European Ombudsman in 2015, the MEPs expressed deep concern at the appointment of the former President of the Commission to the American bank. They call on the Ombudsman to make recommendations concerning the reform of the code of conduct "in line with the principles of good administration and the treaty requirements found in article 245 of the treaty" (see other article).
Parliament rejected (214 votes in favour, 219 against and 110 abstentions) an amendment tabled by the GUE/NGL group deploring the "conflicts of interest of several European Commissioners such as current Spanish Commissioner on Climate Action and Energy, Miguel Arias Canete, and former Dutch Commissioner for Competition, Neelie Kroes".
The MEPs stressed the importance of specific measures to dissipate any suspicion of conflicts of interest in the appointment of candidates to hold office within the institutions of the EU.
Parliament called strongly for a directive on whistleblowing to establish methods and procedures to be followed to denounce all forms of objectionable acts, and a minimum pillar of social guarantees and adequate protection for whistleblowers, in the public sector as well as the private.
Parliament reiterates that broader transparency is required in international agreements such as the TTIP (with the United States), CETA (with Canada) and others. By adopting (414 votes in favour, 203 against and 4 abstentions) an amendment by the Greens/EFA, Parliament called on the Ombudsman to examine whether setting in place secured reading rooms "is in line with the right of access to documents and with the principles of good administration". Parliament is also calling for the publication (under certain conditions) of trialogue documentation and increased transparency of the meetings of the Eurogroup. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)